Table Of Content

George Lyons… the one from whom I Listening Again to the Text learned the most and the best. Thomas E. Phillips Claremont School of Theology L New Testament Studies George Lyons… a faithful servant of Christ, a i s passionate professor, a diligent scholar, and an t in Honor of George Lyons e exemplary churchman and minister of the gospel n of Jesus Christ. His legacy through his work and i n students gives evidence of his love and g faithfulness for God and the church. A Dr. Richard P. Thompson g NNoorrtthhwweesstt NNaazzaarreennee UUnniivveerrssiittyy a i n Dr. George Lyons is a searching guide, an t o austere philanthropist, a compassionate t challenger, and an un-intrusive intruder, and a h Nazarene non-perfectionist…. We feel so e fortunate to have been impacted by the teaching T and example of such a wonderful person. George e x Lyons is an oxymoron, and we can’t imagine a t mmoorree CChhrriisstt--lliikkee mmeettaapphhoorr.. Dr. Tat-siong Benny Liew and Pamela K. Liew College of the Holy Cross & Freelance Author Richard P. Thompson, editor Claremont Press www.Claremontpress.com Listening Again to the Text New Testament Studies in Honor of George Lyons Listening Again to the Text New Testament Studies in Honor of George Lyons Richard P. Thompson, editor Claremont Studies in New Testament and Christian Origins 5 Listening Again to the Text New Testament Studies in Honor of George Lyons ©2020 Claremont Press 1235 N. College Ave. Claremont, CA 91711 ISBN 978-1-946230-44-7 (print) 978-1-946230-45-4 (ebook) Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Listening Again to the Text: New Testament Studies in Honor of George Lyons / Richard P. Thompson Xv + 249 pp. 22 x 15 cm. –(Claremont Studies in New Testament and Christian Origins 5) Includes bibliographic references and indices. ISBN 978-1-946230-44-7 (print) 978-1-946230-45-4 (ebook) Bible. New Testament Criticism, interpretation, etc. BS 2555.52 T466 2020 Cover Image: Sacra Famiglia (Holy Family) by Luca Signorelli (c. 1485-90) in the Vatican Museum, Rome. iv Contents George Lyons: Professor, Scholar, Churchman vii Richard P. Thompson A Tribute to George Lyons xi Tat-siong Benny Liew and Pamela K. Liew PART I LISTENING AGAIN TO THE GOSPELS “Can Salt Really Lose Its Saltiness?” 3 Reading and Listening to Matthew 5:13 Again Richard P. Thompson Hearing Voices: Identity and Mission in Mark 25 Kent E. Brower “Little Daughters” and Big Scriptural Allusions 45 Reading Three of Mark’s Stories Featuring Women with Care Kara J. Lyons-Pardue PART II LISTENING AGAIN INTRACANONICALLY Gospel Themes as “Glue” for Pauline Ecclesiological 73 Images Andy Johnson Loving Neighbor, Loving One Another, and 95 Loving Enemies Three New Testament Ethics of Love Thomas E. Phillips v PART III LISTENING AGAIN TO THE LETTERS Love Empowered Knowledge 117 How the Way of the Cross Determines Behavior in 1 Corinthians 8 David A. Ackerman Translating λόγος as DNA in First Peter 1:22–25 135 Troy W. Martin PART IV LISTENING AGAIN TO THE APOCALYPSE The Remedy for Vengeance: Blood in the Apocalypse 151 Carol J. Rotz Divine Judgment and the Missio Dei in the Book 155 of Revelation Dean Flemming List of Contributors 195 Bibliography 199 Index of Modern Authors 213 Index of Biblical Texts 221 Index of Ancient Sources 247 vi George Lyons: Professor, Scholar, Churchman Richard P. Thompson When George Lyons matriculated as an undergraduate student at Olivet Nazarene College (now University) in the village of Bourbonnais, Illinois (about an hour south of Chicago), little did he know what was in his future. His vocational plans were to become a professor of chemistry, so there was no dream of the biblical professor and scholar he would become. Yet required general education courses in Bible and theology as well as participation and later leadership in student groups like the ONC “Prayer Band” led this fledgling chemistry student to recognize a different passion and divine calling that would order his life: to pursue biblical studies and to serve as a professor and biblical scholar of the church. In other words, his call or passion was to lead and teach others about the Bible as the church’s sacred Scriptures in deeper and faithful ways than they had done before. But that was a different era in the Church of the Nazarene. Few in the denomination pursued or possessed the highest academic credentials in biblical studies in order to serve and enable the church in the ways George imagined. Yet this was the largely uncharted path on which he embarked, first by switching his major and graduating with an undergraduate degree in biblical literature from Olivet in 1970, then earning the Master of Divinity degree from Nazarene Theological Seminary in 1973, and finally being accepted into the Ph.D. program at Emory University, which granted him the Ph.D. in New Testament in 1982. Dr. Lyons’ dissertation, Pauline Autobiography: Toward a New Understanding, was soon published in the prestigious Society of Biblical Literature Dissertation Series (1985), which continues to be cited in scholarly circles for his groundbreaking work in rethinking and reinterpret- vii ing the apostle Paul’s self-descriptions in his letters of Galatians and 1 Thessalonians.1 Dr. Lyons completed thirty-six years of teaching in two institutions of higher education within the Church of the Nazarene. His teaching ministry began in 1977, when he joined the faculty of the Division of Religion and Philosophy at his alma mater, Olivet Nazarene College (now University), where he spent fourteen distinguished years teaching mostly New Testament and Greek, achieving the rank of Full Professor and leading the Master of Arts program in Religion. In 1991, Dr. Lyons accepted the invitation to join the religion faculty of Northwest Nazarene College (now University), where he continued to serve with distinction by embodying what it truly means to receive the rank of Full Professor. In addition to serving on various faculty committees, he also served as the Chair of the University Faculty (2008–10). Within the School of Theology and Christian Ministries, Dr. Lyons was influential in beginning online graduate programs, as he piloted its first online course offering (2002). His passion for teaching translated well into the online context, as he received several awards from online graduate students for his excellence in teaching (despite also earning the reputation for having grueling course requirements!). What should not be overlooked is that Dr. Lyons gave of himself in teaching and mentoring others during sabbaticals, summers, and whenever else he had opportunity in numerous Nazarene institutions around the world, because the passion that drove him to follow his divine calling continued to motivate him throughout his career. As a result of Dr. Lyons’ modeling of his love for Scripture and his commitment to serious scholarship, today among Dr. Lyons’ former students are countless pastors, some district superintendents, and numerous religion faculty serving in both Nazarene and other Christian institutions of higher education. Dr. Lyons has also served the church globally, the Wesleyan- Holiness tradition within which the Church of the Nazarene finds herself, and his denomination. In addition to the publication of his significant dissertation work, his earlier monographs include A 1 George Lyons, Pauline Autobiography: Toward a New Under- standing, SBLDS 73 (Atlanta: Scholars, 1985). viii Dictionary of the Bible and Christian Doctrine in Everyday English (co- edited with Al Truesdale and J. Wesley Eby),1 Holiness in Everyday Life,2 More Holiness in Everyday Life,3 and Listening for God through Revelation4—all works that focus on the church more broadly. He has several articles that appear in the Wesleyan Theological Journal, having served as President of the Wesleyan Theological Society (1993–94). He is a frequent contributor to denominational Sunday school curricula and devotional materials used in thousands of local churches across the world. In the last decade, he has given exemplary leadership as New Testament Editor of the New Beacon Bible Commentary, part of the Centennial Project of Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City (now The Foundry Publishing). His own contribution in addition to William Greathouse’s analysis of Paul’s letter to the Romans led to the release of their two-volume commentary on Paul’s letter to the Romans within that series in 2008,5 as well as Dr. Lyons’ own commentaries on Galatians6 and Ephesians7 released later within that same series.8 1 J. Wesley Eby, George Lyons, and Al Truesdale, eds., A Dictionary of the Bible and Christian Doctrine in Everyday Life (Kansas City, MO: Beacon Hill, 1986). 2 George Lyons, Holiness in Everyday Life (Kansas City, MO: Beacon Hill, 1992). 3 George Lyons, More Holiness in Everyday Life (Kansas City, MO: Beacon Hill, 1997). 4 George Lyons, Listening for God through Revelation (Indianapolis: Wesleyan Publishing, 2006). 5 William Greathouse with George Lyons, Romans: A Commentary in the Wesleyan Tradition, 2 vols., NBBC (Kansas City, MO: Beacon Hill, 2008). 6 George Lyons, Galatians: A Commentary in the Wesleyan Tradition, NBBC (Kansas City, MO: Beacon Bible Commentary, 2012). 7 George Lyons, “Ephesians,” in Ephesians, Colossians, Philemon: A Commentary in the Wesleyan Tradition, NBBC (Kansas City, MO: Beacon Hill, 2019). 8 In addition to the commentaries already mention, see his contribution to the forthcoming commentary on the Gospel of John within the New Beacon Bible Commentary series. ix